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Hate in Intimate Relationships as a Self-protective Emotion

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The Psychology of Love and Hate in Intimate Relationships

Abstract

Current research on hate is sparse and even less reviewed in the context of relationships research. Considering that spousal abuse, murder, and other forms of violence are not uncommon in intimate relationships, it seems necessary to investigate the role that hate plays in intimate relationships. This chapter provides an analysis of hate as an emotion which, when witnessed in intimate relationships, is often elicited as a form of self-protection. By focusing on alternative goals and outcomes hate can engender, as well as the possible impact hate has on perceptions of threat, it is our hope that one may better understand how hate can be measured, defined, and regulated.

Dogs love their friends and bite their enemies, quite unlike people, who are incapable of pure love and always have to mix love and hate.

Sigmund Freud to Marie Bonaparte (1936) as quoted by his daughter Anna Freud in the preface to the new edition Bonaparte (1981/1994) of the book Topsy: The Story of a Golden-Haired Chow by Princess Marie Bonaparte.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Hawaii Pacific University, 1166 Fort St. Mall, Suite 309, Honolulu, HI, 96813, USA

    Katherine Aumer & Anne Cathrine Krebs Bahn

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  1. Katherine Aumer
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  2. Anne Cathrine Krebs Bahn
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Correspondence to Katherine Aumer .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Psychology, Hawaii Pacific University, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

    Katherine Aumer

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Aumer, K., Bahn, A.C.K. (2016). Hate in Intimate Relationships as a Self-protective Emotion. In: Aumer, K. (eds) The Psychology of Love and Hate in Intimate Relationships. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39277-6_8

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